Register and recorder for revolving shafts



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

S. M. TERRY.

REGISTER AND RECORDER FOR REVOLVING SHAFTS.

Patented Ju ne 12, 1888.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2- (No Model.)

S. M. TERRY.

REGISTER AND RECORDER FOR REVOLVING SHAFTS.

Patented June 12, 1888;

lwdmeowoa (No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3.

S. M. TERRY.

REGISTER AND RECORDER FOR REVOLVING SHAPTS.

Patented June 12, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT SOLON M. TERRY, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

REGISTER AND RECORDER FOR REVGLVENG EBE lAFTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 384M179, dated June 12,1888.

Application filed June 10, 1887. Serial No. 240,894. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SOLON M. TERRY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Pittsficld, in the county of Berkshire and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inIndicators and Recorders for Revolving Shafts; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and inwhich Figure l is a plan view of my new and improved device or mechanismfor recording the revolutions of shafts and the occurrence ofirregularities in the same. Fig. 2 is a similar view taken, however, withthe dials of the clock and also the dials of the mechanism forregistering thennmberof revolutions ofa shaft removed. Fig. 3 is adetail perspective View of the said mechanism for registering the numberof revolutions of a shaft. Fig. 4 is a sectional view through themechanism for registering the number of revolutions of a shaft, taken online at i of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a perspective detail view of themechanism for registering any irregularities which may occur in therevolution of a shaft, and also for indicat ing the time of day at whichthe said irregularity occurs. Fig. 6 isasectional view taken on line 6of Fig. 1, and Fig. 7 is a perspec tive detail view of the adjustableregisteringdrum.

The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

My in vent-ion consists in a new and improved device or mechanism forregistering the numher of revolutions of a shaft running any kind ofmachinery in manufacturing establishments where accuracy of speed isrequired, and also for registering any irregularities which may occur inthespecd of the revolutions ofa shaft, and for indicating or recordingthe time of day and the day of the week at which the said inregularities occurred; and my invention will be hereinafter fullydescribed and claimed.

Referring to the several parts by letter, A. indicates the mechanism forregistering the number of revolutions of a shaft, and I will first fullydescribe this mechanism.

B B indicate a front and rear metallic disk, which are secured parallelto one another by the short pillars (3. In these disks is journaledtransversely a shaft, D, the rear end of which extends back of the reardisk, 13, and has rigidly secured upon it a large toothed wheel, E. Thislarge gear-wheel Fis adapted to mesh with a pinion, F, which is mountedon the end of the driveshaft G, to which my invention is applied, thesaid pinion F being, in a workingmachine, formed with twelve teeth,while the large geanwheel E is formed with one hundred and twenty teeth,so that itwill require ten revolutions of the drive-shaft G, therevolutions of which are being measured, to revolve the first shaft, D,of the mechanism A once. The number of teeth of the pinion F and of thelarge wheel B may of course be greater or less than those heredescribed; but the same proportion should exist between the number ofteeth of the two-that is to say, the number ofteeth of the large wheel Eshould be ten times as great as those of the pinion on the shaft therevolutions of which are to be registered-so that it will always requireten revolutions of the said shaft G to revolve the first shaft, D, once.

Upon the outer middle portion of the shaft D is formed or securedrigidly a pinion, H, the teeth of which mesh with the teeth of agearwheel, I, which is rigidly secured upon the outer middle part of asecond shaft, J, which is journaled in the disks B Band which is alsoprovided with a pinion, K, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 of thedrawings) which in turn meshes with a geanwheel, L, on athird shaft, M,journaled between the disks l3 i3;and three other shafts, N, O, and I,arejournaled in the said disks B B, each of the said shafts between thedisks being provided with a pinion and a gear-wheel which intermesh inthe manner described, so that the first shaft turns the second, thesecond turns the third, the third turns the fourth, the fourth turns thefifth, and the fifth turns the sixth.

The outer ends of the several shafts extend through their hearings inthe outer disk, B, and their outer ends are tapered, clearly shown inthe sectional view of the drawings, and a dial, R, is sec. re upon theouter face of the outer disk, 13, and has six separate circular scalesmarked on its outer face or side, each of the said scales being markedwith aseries of numerals running from to 9 and arranged in a circle, asshown. Now, on the outer tapered end of each of the six shafts of therecording mechanism A is mounted an indicator-hand, U, each of the saidindicator-hands being secured firmly to the inner flat end of anadjustable cap, S, the said cap being formed with a central taperedaperture, '1, (see Fig. 4,) extending from its inner end, while the headof this cap is milled for convenience in turning it with the fingers.The outer end of each of the six shafts lies in the center of itsrespective scale on the dial B, so that the indicator-hands U sweep orpass over these scales. Now, this mechanism A for registering the numberof revolutions of a shaft having been secured in operative position,with the pinion F on the end of the said shaft G meshing with the largegear-wheel E on the inner end of the first shaft, D, of the saidmechanism, (the disks B B being supported by the framepieces V at aslight distance away from the vertical back plate, W, to allow room forthe rearwardly-extending end of the first shaft, D, and the largegear-wheel E on the same,) it will be seen that, as the said pinion Fhas only one-tenth the number of teeth of the large gear-wheel E, eachrevolution of the shaft G, whose revolutions are being counted,wi1l turnthe first shaft, D, one-tenth of a revolution, so that theindicator-hand or pointer U, which is set at the 0 before the shaftstarts, will travel over the scale to the. figure 1, indicating that thedrive-shaft G has completed one revolution, and when the saiddrive-shaft has completed ten revolutions the point of the saidindicator-hand on the first dial will have traveled around the saiddial-scale back to the 0 at the beginning of the scale. Now, the pinionH on the first shaft, D, has in a workingmachine one-tenth the number ofteeth in the gear-wheel I on the second shaft, J, with which it meshes,and in like manner each one of the pinions on the several shafts of thismechanism have one-tenth of the numberof teeth of the gear-wheel of thesaid shafts with which they mesh, so that it will take ten revolutionsof the secondshaft to revolve the third shaft once, ten revolutions ofthe third shaft to revolve the fourth shaft once, and so on to the endof the series of shafts. Now, when the first shaft, D,has completed onerevolution, and the end or point of theindicator-hand of the said shafthas traveled around, as described,

to the figure 0 again, the drive-shaft G has completed one hundredrevolutions, and the rather on the second scale; and in like manner whenthe drive-shaft has finished asecond ten revolutions and theindicator-hand of the first shaft has traveled around again from 1 to 0,the

indicator-handof the second shaft is moved on I from the numeral 1 tothe numeral 2, the first scale indicating tens from zero to nine, thesecond scale indicating hundreds, the third thousands, the fourth tenthousands, the fifth hundred thousands, and the sixth millions, and theshafts and scales might be extended, if required, to indicate largernumbers, but these are in all ordinary cases amply sufficient. As eachshaft completes the tenth revolution, it moves the next shaft in theseries forward one tooth, and the several indexhands indicate on theirrespective scales the precise number of revolutions of each shaft, sothat at any moment the number of revolutions which have been made by thedriveshaft whose revolutions are being counted or numbered can be readoff at aglance, the first scale or dial and its pointer being adapted toindicate revolutions of the drive-shaft from ten up to one hundred, thesecond indicating hundreds-that is, if the pointer or index-hand of thesecond dial stands or points to 3, then the driveshaft has made threehundred revolutions, to which are to be added the number 5, 6, or 8, asthe case may be,which the first dial indicates. The other dials indicatein the same manner, so that,-beginning with the dial of the highestnumber-the last or'sixthand looking at each dial in turn back to thefirst, the exact number of revolutions which the drive-shaft G has madecan be read atany moment. When the machinery is stopped at the end ofthe day, the number of revolutions can be-thus read off, and when themachinery is to be started again to begin the next days work theindicator-hands are all turned back to the figure 0 of their respectivescales, this being accomplished by merely turning the several taper capsS,to the inner ends of which the indicator-hands are secured, around onthe the scales, when the mechanism is ready to start again to registerthe days work. The

taper caps, which have the index-hands mounted on their inner ends, fitclosely and tightly on the tapered outer ends of the several shafts, sothat they will notslip or move around on the said shafts, but will onlymove under a firm pressure of the fingers,and must be turned purposely.

From the foregoing description,taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the construction and manner of operation of my improvedmechanism for registering the number of revolutions of a shaft will bereadily understood. It will be seen that this mechanism is comparativelysimple and very strong in construction, and that it will perform itswork with great efficiency and accuracy. I will now proceed to describethe mechanism which operates in conjunction with this before-describedmechanism to record any irregularities which 'ico may occur in therevolution of the drive-shaft sees-79 also the day of the week, at whichthis irregularity occurred.

Upon one of the shafts in the registering mechanism A is secured a lug,A, and upon the main back plate, XV, is pivoted or pivotally mounted inany ordinary and suitable manner a lever, B, the upper end of which isengaged by the said lug on each revolution of the shaft on which the lugis mounted; and it will be seen that on each revolution of this shaft,indicating a certain number of revolutions of the drive-shaft G, towhich my invention is applied, the said lug will trip or swing the leverB, which has secured on its lower end by a set-screw, D, a sharp point,0, and the lower end of the lever B is normally held with the point ofthe marker C in contact with the strip of paper or the like on therecordingdrum by means of a coiled spring, E, as shown, a stop, F,regulating the inward stroke of the lower end of the said lever,preventing the point of the marker from striking the rec ord-paper withtoo much force.

Upon the main vertical back plate, XV, to the right hand of theregistering mechanism A, is mounted a clock mechanism, G, consisting ofan entire clock of the ordinary construction, and either a marine or apendulum clock maybe employed; but, for convenience, l prefer to employa marine chronometer, on account of its requiring less space and runningin any position. This clock or chrononicter is of the usualconstruction, with the exception that a broad-toothed or gear wheel, H,is rigidly secured upon the rear portion of the mainspring-shaft I ofthe clock, the rear end of the said shaft being extended for thatpurpose. Abovea-ndtoonesideofthisclockmechanism is secured to the mainvertical back plate, XV, a bearing-plate, J, which extends out at rightangles to the vertical back plate, XX", and is bent down at rightangles, and its outer portion extends parallel with the vertical backplate, XV. In the outer end of'this bearing J is formed a slot, L,leading to a curved hearing, M, from which a reduced slot, N, extends,the slot L being inclined downward as well as outward, as shown, forconvenience in placing the recordingdrum in position and removing itfrom engagement with the clock mechanism when it is desired to adjustthe drum or to wind the clock. This recordingdrum N may be of wood orother suitable material, having thewide periphery formed with the endflanges, O O, and having a central opcni ng, P, extending partly orentirely through it from its outer end. Upon the outer end of thiswooden drum is secured by screws, or in any other manner, a metal diskor plate, Q, on the center of which is secured a pillar, It, and uponthe outer end of this pillar is rigidly and diamet rically secured alarge gear-wheel, S. This pillar R, and also the metal plate on which itis secured, is formed with a central longitudinal screw-threadedaperture, T, with which the central opening, 1 of the wooden drumregisters, as shown in the sectional view Fig.

6 of the drawings, and in this screw-threaded aperture T tits and worksthe main or body portion of a screw, U, which is provided toward itsouter end with a fixed head or collar, X7, having the projecting andoutwardlyeurved lug XV. The drum having been screwed upon this screw tothe desired point, as hereinafter described, the screw is placed in itsoperative position by slippingits upper or outer end above the saidcollar V in and through the slot L until it reaches the bearing M at theinner end of the said slot, when, p

the outer surface of the collar bearing against the inner surface of thebearingplatc J, the outwardlyprojecting end of the lug W will fit in thereduced slot N, and thus prevent the screw from turning in the bearing,and the screw is firmly, though adjustably, secured in this bearing bymeans of the adjustablescrewcap AF, having the finger-piece B at itsouter end and adapted to be screwed on the outer end of the screw U, theinner end of this screwcap being somewhat dished or concaved, so thatwhen the nut has been screwed down tight upon thebearing-plate J theentire outer circular edge of its inner end will bite or bind tightlyagainst the outer surface of the bearing'plate J, as clearly shown inthe sectional View of the drawings, and thus effect ually prevent thescrew U from moving or slipping in its hearing as the drum works uponit.

Upon or around the wide periphery of the drum N, between the annular endflanges of the same, is reniovably secured areeord strip, (3*, of paperor other suitablematerial, having the hours and divisions of hoursprinted upon it, this strip being secured upon the drum in any suitablemanner; but this may be conveir ient-ly done by forming a recess, Dtransversely across the edge or periphery of the drum at one point,inserting the ends of the paper strip in the said recess, and securingthem therein by means of a wedge-picce or key, E by which arrangementthestrip can be readily removed at the end of the week and replaced by afresh strip.

The drum is arranged or set at the begin ning of the weeks work byscrewing it up upon the screw U before the screw is secured in itsbearing, adjusting the drum upon the screw, so that when the screw ismoved into its bearing and firmlysecured therein by ti htening the nutor cap A? the teeth of the large gear-wheel S on the outer end of thepillar .lt will mesh with the teeth of the wide gearwheel H on themainspring-shaft 1 near the outer end of the said broad gearwlreel, asshown, so that as the lever ll is tripped at each revolution of theshaft of the registering mechanism A, which has the lug A, the point ofthe marker 0 will strike and perforate the paper strip on the drum nearthe inner edge of the same. Now, he screw U is formed with acoarsethrcad, so that when the drum N has been revolved once in twelvehours by the clock mechanism it will have fed far enough in on the screwU, on which it works, (the d rum being turned by the meshing gear-wheelsin the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l of the drawings, sothat as it is thus revolved it will gradually screw off of the screw,moving back,) so that the next row of perforations made by the markerduring the next revolution of the recordingdrum will be clear of thefirst row, and therefore perfectly legible, standing away from them onthe record-strip. In the drawings the screw is formed with thirtytwothreads to the inch, so that at the end of twenty-four hours, when thedrum has made two revolutions, it will have worked back onesixteenth ofan inch, and the two rows of incisions made during the two revolutionswill be one sixteenth of an inch apart. It will thus be seen that as thedrive-shaft of the machinery whose revolutions are to be registered andirregularities detected revolves the number of revolutions for any giventime are registered by the mechanism A, as previously fully described,and thelug on one of the shafts of the said mechanism will swing or tripthe lever B once for each revolution which it makes, the marker on thelower end of'the said lever striking the paper slip on therecording-drum each time the lever is tripped and making an incision oraperture which is clear and legible, and as the drum is revolvedsteadily once every twelve hours by noting the spaces between the saidperforations any irregularity in the speed of the drive-shaft of themachinery can be instantly detected, and also the time of day at whichthe said irregularity occurred, and as the drum feeds itself back on thescrew U as it revolves, so as to leave a clear space between each row ofperforations, it will be seen that not only the time of day but also theday of the week can be seen, and is thus recorded. The drum and therecordstrip are made of sufficient width,

to afford room for the entire weeks record, and at the end of the weekthe record paper or slip is removed and filed away, and forms a recordwhich can be referred to at any time to see the amount ofirregularity'in the shafts revolutions on any particular day and theexact hour of that day at which the said irregu larity occurred.

- made when this index hand has made one revolution over its dial, eachincision in the paper record band or strip will record that number ofrevolutions, and when the distance between the incisions on therecord-band vary the exact irregularity inthe speed of the drive-shaftcan be readily computed.

At the beginning of a weeks work a fresh record-strip is placed aroundthe periphery of the drum, as described, and the drum is then screwedupon its supporting-screw U, so that its gear-wheel will mesh with theouter part of the thick gear-wheel on the mainspringshaft of the clockmechanism, and the screw is then slid into position in its bearing, withthe lug on it's collar fitting in the reduced slot to prevent the screwfrom turning in the bearing when the screwcap A is screwed down to bindthe screw firmly in its operative position, the edge of the cap bindingfirmly against the bearing-plate, as described, the drum being adjustedon the screw, so that if the word is to start, for instance, at sevenoclock the figure 7 on the printed strip will register with the point ofthe marker. When the clock is to be wound up, the screw-cap is loosenedand the gearwheel of the drum moved out of engagement with the broadgearwheel of the clock mechanism, and is slid back to engage again withthe said gear-wheel when the clock has been wound and secured bytightening the screw-cap.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction, operation, and many and decidedadvantages of my invention will be readily understood. It will be seenthat my improved mechanism for registering the number of revolutions ofa shaft running any kind of machinery,and also for recording anyirregularities which may occur in the speed of the shaft, and forindicating the time of day and the day of the week when the saidirregularities occurred, is comparatively simple in construction andexceedingly efficient and accurate in its operation. It can be readilyapplied to any shaft. The mechanism A registers every revolution of theshaft to which it is applied, so that the number of revolutions can beseen at a glance, while the mechanism can be arranged to start afresh bymerely turn ing or adjusting the several taper screwcaps which carry theindex-hands, and an exact record is made of an irregularity in the speedof the drive-shaft which may occur, and also of the hour of the day andthe day of the week when the said irregularities occurred, and thisrecord-slip can be filed away at the end of the week for futurereference. The whole combined mechanism is inclosed in a metal or woodenbox or casing, only allowing the large gear-wheel on the first shaft toproject sufficiently to mesh with the pinion of the .driveshaft whoserevolutions are to be registered, the casing being of course providedwith a hinged front or door, which is opened to adjust the severalindicator-hands and to remove and replace the record strip or band.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent'of the United States, is-

1. The combination, with the clock having the wide gear-wheel mounted onits mainspringshaft, and the plate J, having the bearing in its lowerend, of the screw having the collar, the screw-cap, the revolvingrecorddrurn having the central pillar formed with the longitudinalthreaded aperture, and the gear-wheel mounted upon said pillar, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the clock having the wide gear-wheel mounted onits mainspring-shal't, of the hearing-plate having the slot and thehearing at the inner end of the said slot, and the reduced slot, thescrew having the collar provided with the lug, the screwcap and therevolving record-drum having the central pillar formed with thelongitudi nal threaded opening and the gear-wheel mounted upon it,substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with the clock having the wide gear-wheel mounted onits mainspringshal't, of the bearing-plate formed with the main slot andthe hearing at the inner end of the said slot, and having the reducedslot, as described the screw having the collar pro vided with thelug,the screw-cap formed with the concaved inner end, and the revolvingrecorddrum having the central pillar formed with the longitudinalthreaded opening and the gear-wheel mounted upon it, substantially asand for the purpose herein set forth.

4:- The combination, with the mechanism consisting of the paralleldisks, the series of shafts mounted therein and having the intermeshingpinions and gear-wheels, the first shaft having the large gear-wheel onits projecting rear end, and one of the said shafts having the lugsecured upon it, the dial having the circular scales marked upon it, andthe indicator-hands secured upon the outer ends of the said shafts, ofthe centrally-pivoted spring-actuated lever having the pointed marker atits lower end, and the mechanism consisting of the clock having the widegearwheel mounted on its mainspring-shaft, the plate J, having thebearing in its lower end, the screw having the collar, the screw-cap,the revolving drum having the central pillar formed with thelongitudinal threaded opening, the gear-wheel mounted upon said pillar,and the record band or strip of paper or other suitable materialremovably secured around the said drum, all substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the mechanism consisting of the parallel disks,the series of shafts mounted therein and having the inter meshingpinions and gear-wheels, the first shaft having the large ear-wheel onits pr jecting rear end, and one of the said shafts having the lugsecured upon it, the dial having the circular scales marked upon it, andthe indicator-hands adjustably secured upon the outer ends of the saidshafts, of the centrally-pivoted spring-actuated lever having thepointed marker at its lower end, and the mechanism consisting of theclock having the wide gear-wheel mounted on its mainspring shaft, thehearing-plate formed with the wide slot, the bearing, and the reducedslot, the screw having the collar provided with the lug, the screw-cap,the flanged drum having the central pillar formed with the longitudinalthreaded opening, and the gear-wheel mounted upon said pillar, and therecordstrip of paper or other suitable material removably secured aroundthe said drum, all substantially as and for the purpose herein setforth.

In testimony that 1 claim the foregoing as my own I have hereuntoaffixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SOLON M. TERRY.

Witnesses:

Rona. W. ADAM, FRED T. FRANCIS.

